Type: | F1 |
Country: | Russia |
Grand Prix: | Russian |
Previous Round: | 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix |
Next Round: | 2020 Eifel Grand Prix |
Date: | 27 September |
Year: | 2020 |
Official Name: | Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2020 |
Race No: | 10 |
Season No: | 17 |
Location: | Sochi Autodrom Adlersky City District, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia |
Course: | Permanent racing facility |
Course Mi: | 3.634 |
Course Km: | 5.848 |
Distance Laps: | 53 |
Distance Mi: | 192.467 |
Distance Km: | 309.745 |
Weather: | Sunny |
Pole Driver: | Lewis Hamilton |
Pole Team: | Mercedes |
Pole Time: | 1:31.304 |
Pole Country: | GBR |
Fast Driver: | Valtteri Bottas |
Fast Team: | Mercedes |
Fast Time: | 1:37.030 |
Fast Lap: | 51 |
Fast Country: | FIN |
First Driver: | Valtteri Bottas |
First Team: | Mercedes |
First Country: | FIN |
Second Driver: | Max Verstappen |
Second Team: | Red Bull Racing-Honda |
Second Country: | NED |
Third Driver: | Lewis Hamilton |
Third Team: | Mercedes |
Third Country: | GBR |
The 2020 Russian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2020) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 September 2020 at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia. The race was the tenth round of the 2020 Formula One World Championship, ninth running of the Russian Grand Prix and the seventh time held in Sochi. The 53-lap race was won by Valtteri Bottas of the Mercedes team, with Max Verstappen of Red Bull placing 2nd, and Lewis Hamilton taking the final podium place.
See also: COVID-19 pandemic in Russia.
The 2020 championship was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the originally planned Grands Prix were cancelled or postponed, prompting the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile to draft a new calendar. However, the Russian Grand Prix kept its original date. Up to 30,000 fans were expected to attend the race with social distancing measures in place.[1] Haas driver Romain Grosjean expressed discomfort over the handling of the pandemic situation at his hotel.[2]
Ten teams (each representing a different constructor) each entered two drivers. The drivers and teams were the same as those on the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for either the race or practice.[3]
See also: Formula One tyres. Sole Formula One tyre manufacturer Pirelli supplied their C3, C4 and C5 compound tyres for teams to use in the race, the three softest compounds available.[4]
The first free practice session ended with Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas quickest, followed by Daniel Ricciardo of Renault and Max Verstappen of Red Bull. The session was disrupted first by McLaren driver Carlos Sainz Jr.'s spin in turn seven, which caused damage to his rear wing and triggered a virtual safety car. Nicholas Latifi of Williams spun in turn ten causing severe damage to his car and triggering another red flag.[5]
The second practice session ended with Bottas ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton and Ricciardo.[6] The third practice session ended with Hamilton fastest ahead of Bottas and Sainz Jr.[7]
Hamilton took pole, 0.563s ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Valtteri Bottas finished 3rd with Sergio Pérez in 4th for Racing Point. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo qualified 5th followed by Carlos Sainz Jr., Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon.
Out in Q1 (the first part of qualifying) were Romain Grosjean, Antonio Giovinazzi, Kevin Magnussen, Nicholas Latifi and Kimi Räikkönen. In Q2, Charles Leclerc finished 11th, missing out on Q3 after his teammate Sebastian Vettel crashed, bringing out the red flag and Hamilton making it to the line to set his final lap in Q2 seconds before the chequered flag came out to end the session. Daniil Kvyat was 12th followed by Lance Stroll, whose engine overheated preventing him from going out for a second run in Q2, Williams driver George Russell and Vettel.[8]
Driver | Constructor | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | ||||||
1 | 44 | data-sort-value="ham" | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:32.983 | 1:32.835 | 1:31.304 | 1 |
2 | 33 | data-sort-value="ver" | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:33.630 | 1:33.157 | 1:31.867 | 2 |
3 | 77 | data-sort-value="bot" | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:32.656 | 1:32.405 | 1:31.956 | 3 |
4 | 11 | data-sort-value="per" | Sergio Pérez | 1:33.704 | 1:33.038 | 1:32.317 | 4 | |
5 | 3 | data-sort-value="ric" | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1:33.650 | 1:32.218 | 1:32.364 | 5 |
6 | 55 | data-sort-value="sai" | Carlos Sainz Jr. | McLaren-Renault | 1:33.967 | 1:32.757 | 1:32.550 | 6 |
7 | 31 | data-sort-value="oco" | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1:33.557 | 1:33.196 | 1:32.624 | 7 |
8 | 4 | data-sort-value="nor" | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1:33.804 | 1:33.081 | 1:32.847 | 8 |
9 | 10 | data-sort-value="gas" | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:33.734 | 1:33.139 | 1:33.000 | 9 |
10 | 23 | data-sort-value="alb" | Alexander Albon | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:33.919 | 1:33.153 | 1:33.008 | 15 |
11 | 16 | data-sort-value="lec" | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:34.071 | 1:33.239 | N/A | 10 |
12 | 26 | data-sort-value="kvy" | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:33.511 | 1:33.249 | N/A | 11 |
13 | 18 | data-sort-value="str" | Lance Stroll | 1:33.852 | 1:33.364 | N/A | 12 | |
14 | 63 | data-sort-value="rus" | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1:34.020 | 1:33.583 | N/A | 13 |
15 | 5 | data-sort-value="vet" | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:34.134 | 1:33.609 | N/A | 14 |
16 | 8 | data-sort-value="gro" | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1:34.592 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
17 | 99 | data-sort-value="gio" | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:34.594 | N/A | N/A | 17 | |
18 | 20 | data-sort-value="mag" | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1:34.681 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
19 | 6 | data-sort-value="lat" | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1:35.066 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
20 | 7 | data-sort-value="rai" | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:35.267 | N/A | N/A | 19 |
107% time 1:39.141 | ||||||||
Source:[9] [10] | ||||||||
Kimi Räikkönen started his 322nd Grand Prix, tying Rubens Barrichello's record. Carlos Sainz Jr. took to the run off area and hit the wall trying to rejoin the circuit at the race start. Charles Leclerc collided with Lance Stroll causing the latter to hit a wall. The safety car was sent out to clear the debris at the second turn.
Lewis Hamilton was handed down two 5-second penalties for doing practice starts outside the designated areas, which he served on his first pitstop. Hamilton was also initially given two penalty points on his FIA Super Licence which would have left him on 10 penalty points for the last 12 months period, only two penalty points short of a race ban. However, these penalty points were rescinded after stewards received information that team radio communications had advised Hamilton about where he could or could not do a practice start and the team was fined instead for their error.[12] [13] [14] Both Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon were given a 5-second penalty for exceeding the track limits at turn 2.
The race was won by Valtteri Bottas ahead of Max Verstappen and Hamilton. The result left Hamilton leading the championship with 205 points from teammate Bottas on 161 points.[15] [16]
Driver | Constructor | Time/Retired | Points | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 77 | data-sort-value="bot" | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 53 | 1:34:00.364 | 3 | 26 | |
2 | 33 | data-sort-value="ver" | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 53 | +7.729 | 2 | 18 | |
3 | 44 | data-sort-value="ham" | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 53 | +22.729 | 1 | 15 | |
4 | 11 | data-sort-value="per" | Sergio Pérez | 53 | +30.558 | 4 | 12 | ||
5 | 3 | data-sort-value="ric" | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 53 | +52.065 | 5 | 10 | |
6 | 16 | data-sort-value="lec" | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 53 | +1:02.186 | 10 | 8 | |
7 | 31 | data-sort-value="oco" | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 53 | +1:08.006 | 7 | 6 | |
8 | 26 | data-sort-value="kvy" | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri-Honda | 53 | +1:08.740 | 11 | 4 | |
9 | 10 | data-sort-value="gas" | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 53 | +1:29.766 | 9 | 2 | |
10 | 23 | data-sort-value="alb" | Alexander Albon | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 53 | +1:37.860 | 15 | 1 | |
11 | 99 | data-sort-value="gio" | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 52 | +1 lap | 17 | |||
12 | 20 | data-sort-value="mag" | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 52 | +1 lap | 18 | ||
13 | 5 | data-sort-value="vet" | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 52 | +1 lap | 14 | ||
14 | 7 | data-sort-value="rai" | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 52 | +1 lap | 19 | ||
15 | 4 | data-sort-value="nor" | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 52 | +1 lap | 8 | ||
16 | 6 | data-sort-value="lat" | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 52 | +1 lap | 20 | ||
17 | 8 | data-sort-value="gro" | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 52 | +1 lap | 16 | ||
18 | 63 | data-sort-value="rus" | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 52 | +1 lap | 13 | ||
data-sort-value="19" | Ret | 55 | data-sort-value="sai" | Carlos Sainz Jr. | McLaren-Renault | 0 | Accident | 6 | |
data-sort-value="20" | Ret | 18 | data-sort-value="str" | Lance Stroll | 0 | Collision | 12 | ||
Fastest lap Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 1:37.030 (lap 51) | |||||||||
Source:[17] [18] | |||||||||
Driver | Points | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | 205 | ||
2 | Valtteri Bottas | 161 | ||
3 | Max Verstappen | 128 | ||
4 | Lando Norris | 65 | ||
5 | Alexander Albon | 64 | ||
Source: |
Constructor | Points | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mercedes | 366 | ||
2 | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 192 | ||
3 | McLaren-Renault | 106 | ||
4 | Racing Point-BWT Mercedes | 104 | ||
5 | Renault | 99 | ||
Source: |